Title

Author

Date of Award

2018

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Neurosciences

Department

Interdisciplinary Studies

First Advisor

Brenton DeBoef

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent form of dementia and is characterized by the presence of beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles. Thioflavin-T, a fluorescent molecule, is known to have a high binding affinity to beta-amyloid. The high binding association is optimal for use as an affinity tag in the synthesis of targeted molecular imaging probes for detection by hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI. An effort to move away from gadolinium-based contrasts for MRI is at the forefront of research due to evidence of toxic gadolinium build up in numerous organs. The goal of this project was to synthesize six Thioflavin-T analogues that could have greater binding associations and potentially be used to construct xenon probes. The six analogues were synthesized.